PDA

View Full Version : Alphabetical Artist Bias ?



Pete The Cat
28-09-2014, 18:35
When it comes to CD albums l file alphabetically. I guess you’d define most of them as being Rock of some sort, with a range of other things from the late 60s to present day.

Yesterday I noticed that more than two thirds of my CDs are by artists whose names begin with letters A to M. It got me wondering whether I have a subconscious alphabetical bias or whether most artists’ names just happen to begin with one of these. U, X and Z are obviously going to have limited numbers in spite of the efforts of Underworld, XTC and ZZ Top.

It’s not like one artist is skewing the distribution of my CDs. I have everything imaginable by Deep Purple Mk2 and 3 but equally by The Stranglers with Hugh Cornwell.

Then I got to thinking about when I go to a record shop, since I still mostly buy from shops. I always start browsing at A and finish at Z. Given that I don’t have as much time for that as when I was younger I probably cover the first half of the alphabet more thoroughly but then speed up as my available time becomes shorter. Could this mean that I’ve accidentally ended up with a collection tilted towards A to M ?!

Or, does someone out there know if most modern artists’ names just happen to begin with the earlier letters of the alphabet ? These things are important :scratch:

Pete

synsei
28-09-2014, 18:53
Pete, you could address one of those variables by beginning your next record browsing session at 'Z' and working backwards ;)

The Grand Wazoo
28-09-2014, 19:04
I don't know about that but I do know I tend to play more stuff that is stored at eye level than those that I have to bend down to see. Me back or knees must be on the way out!

Macca
28-09-2014, 19:35
My detailed research discovered that more artists/band names begin with 'S' than any other letter:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?33467-Artists-Beginning-With-S

Which somewhat contradicts your findings

We must also conclude from your findings that people who are always short of time when browsing for records own no ZZ Top at all. Which is quite serious, really.

Pete The Cat
02-10-2014, 19:27
Glad to find that others also see this as an issue of vital importance. Actually "S" is the most frequent in my collection too.

On behalf of AoS I've conducted some field research in a branch of HMV. Their Rock section had just over 10 rack units covering A to M and just under 7 covering N to Z. 60:40 ! QED I'm not so out of sync after all :yay:

At that point I chose not to measure the other genres in case security mistakenly assumed I was weird and likely to deter normal customers (no sniggering at the back please), so I retreated to the checkout with Boz Scaggs and Opeth who are helping me work on my N to Z quota.

Next time I'm in Sister Ray I'll conduct further reconnaissance and report back ;)

It's all about the music.

Pete

Peter Galbavy
03-10-2014, 08:47
My detailed research discovered that more artists/band names begin with 'S' than any other letter:

http://theartofsound.net/forum/showthread.php?33467-Artists-Beginning-With-S


Very much the case for me, both CDs and vinyl. "S" is by a goodly margin the largest volume.

DanJennings
03-10-2014, 18:12
S is a biggie, but I think 'M' probably wins for me.
'V' is probably my smallest/

DanJennings
04-10-2014, 11:12
OK, well after posting the above, it occurred to me that I keep a spreadsheet of my collection, to keep track of it all and stop me from buying duplicates etc.

This means that I can sort this out properly (sad I know!)

Going off my whole collection mostly CDs with a few hundred vinyls and a couple of tapes thrown in, it turns out my guesses above were both wrong.
B in fact won, with 344, followed by S with 294 and M in 3rd place with 286.
The bottom 3 were Y with 31, V with 27 and Q with a paltry 24.

So there you go!

Macca
04-10-2014, 11:17
You have a much larger sample than I do Dan, I've got less CDs than you have just in 'B'. I don't have any in 'Q' at all but then I'm not a fan of Queen.

DanJennings
04-10-2014, 12:42
I have a few Queen records, but I think more of them are Queens Of The Stone Age and Queensryche

Pete The Cat
05-10-2014, 09:03
The bottom 3 were Y with 31, V with 27 and Q with a paltry 24.

This suggests that you have a very healthy dose of XTC and X-Ray Spex :clap:

Can I assume everyone who files alphabetically uses the surname for solo artists rather than the Andy's Records approach of first name ?

Pete

johnB
05-10-2014, 10:17
A visual on my collection suggests that the letter "I" is the lowest contributor , not much beyond The Isley Brothers (Iggy is filed under S for Stooges")

DanJennings
05-10-2014, 10:22
This suggests that you have a very healthy dose of XTC and X-Ray Spex :clap:

Can I assume everyone who files alphabetically uses the surname for solo artists rather than the Andy's Records approach of first name ?

Pete

Yep, I file by surname, anything else would be madness.

I have a couple of X Ray Spex, but I have a very unhealthy amount of XTC! 136 discs according to my spreadsheet.

Macca
05-10-2014, 10:35
(Iggy is filed under S for Stooges")

Surely Iggy should be under 'P' for 'Pop'?

I mean would you file Elvis Costello under 'A' for Attractions? Would you file Tom Petty under 'H' for 'Heartbreakers'?

RichB
05-10-2014, 19:40
My collection is heavily skewed in favour of 'M'

Owning most of the back catalogue of Metallica, My Morning Jacket and Marilion has created this anomoly.